


Notes of Light

by diallage



Category: Easy Allies RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 16:23:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15934115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diallage/pseuds/diallage
Summary: In which Ben finds himself in a new city, not quite ready to take on his new life. Certain people make the adjustment a bit easier, though.





	Notes of Light

**Author's Note:**

> For Aleksa. <3  
> Prompt: Hinckmoore with a happy ending.

-  
It wasn’t pure luck or by coincidence, Ben had worked hard to get into that journalism exchange program after all, and after it was all said and done just reasonable to transition into a media job nearby. And so using those connections from college, Ben did indeed take that shiny new job with its full dental coverage and stocked snack room (!!!), tantamount the fact that one of Ben’s closest friends from that aforementioned exchange program happened to live a nice 20 minute drive from the news station.

Sure, taking a full-time job in L.A. could seem scary or overwhelming especially coming from the dead center of blustery, boring Iowa, but Ben had done this before. Granted, for a semester only. Given, almost never having to leave the host campus. And also, guaranteed full air conditioning in the hot southern California sun.None of which he had going into this job.  
Hmm, maybe this was a mistake after all.  
But no. This was a start. And a good one at that. Things would turn out fine. Ben quickly shook the rising panic off of him and instead turned his attention to the colorful houses and apartments that lined the streets that laid atop the untamable rolling hills that after all this time still marked the city. The neighborhood seemed nice enough, with a couple of bakeries and coffee shops popping up every couple of blocks or so, and couples casually hanging out on their porches, sipping drinks or just having a chat.  
“Alright, you’re stopping here,” the elderly taxi driver said as he pulled up by the curb of a brick apartment complex. He pointed at the meter. “And that’s how much you owe”.  
“Thank you, thanks so much,” Ben said, paying the driver and making sure to tip graciously. Ben reached out to give the driver a handshake and when given no response, quickly turned out scuttled out of the car to retrieve his suitcase from the trunk.  
“Thanks again!,” Ben called out as the taxi sped away. He let out a long sigh, watching the cab get smaller and smaller into the distance. He turned his attention to the apartment complex, and started to wheel his suitcase inside.  
Luckily the elevator worked, as the trip up to the 5th floor would be horrendous otherwise. Ben doubled checked the weeks-old text on his phone lending him the apartment number, and made his way to the corner of the building where #523 lay.  
No music or chatter could be heard through the wood door, but Ben was certain this was the place anyway. He didn’t even get a second knock in before the door swung open and he was tackled to the ground in a hug.  
“BEN!” Huber practically yelled into his ear.  
“HUBER!” Ben practically yelled back.  
“Dude, I’ve been waiting for you ALL day. I’ve been catching up on Agents of Shield, you know? And- okay I won’t spoil anything for you, I won’t do that- but the craziest thing just happened, stakes were HIGH and I didn’t cry but I was THIS close, oh and I also got Monster Hunter, so now we can do couch co-op AND weekly hunts, I am SO hyped for you to be living here, dude.” Huber didn’t lower his voice at all as he pulled Ben up and led him into his- their?- apartment.  
“Huber!!” Ben repeated, a grin never leaving his face. “You really got Monster Hunter for me!?”  
“Dude!” Huber gripped Ben’s arms tightly, almost to a painful level. “We are going to mount the beasts just like you said and-”  
“Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.” Ben said, positioning himself to grab Huber’s shoulders.  
They stood in silence for an extended gleeful second or two before Huber backed up and ushered Ben from the doorway and to the couch in front of the television that was displaying the paused menu for Evil Within II.  
“I’m going through my yearly playthrough,” Huber explained briefly while he practically skipped across the living area to open one of the bedroom doors. “This will be your room, and mine is right here,” he said, needlessly aggressively pointing at the closed door off to the left.  
Ben moved towards his new bedroom while Huber watched intensely, not shifting from his original position. Ben really didn’t question it exactly, but as he tried to get through the doorframe Huber moved in, blocking Ben’s way and making eye contact unwaveringly.  
“Ben,” Huber said lowly, “how do you feel about bears?”  
“I think they’re fine.” Ben said flatly. “Yeah, just fine.”  
“Just FINE!?,” Huber exclaimed. “Ben, cmon, have you ever even just SEEN one- oh wait, hold on,” Huber pulled his phone out of his back pocket, and read what seemed to be a text message with extreme urgency. “It’s Damiani. He wants us to be quiet,” he said without changing his volume at all.  
“Oh, if that’s it then-” Ben turned to the closed door next to his, and mouthed Is this room his?, and when given a quick nod from Huber, turned to the door and gave his best stage whisper with, “-we should just leave him alone.”  
The door swung open and Damiani revealed himself, his white polo a stark contrast to the dark room behind him, one that only shone with Final Fantasy XI Online running on his PC.  
“Hey Damiani, nice to see you man.” Ben went in for a brief hug, and for some reason Huber joined in too. “How are you doing?”, he said, pulling away and giving Huber a quick glance of “really?”.  
“Damiani, did you want to go out tonight?,” Huber interrupted, before Damiani got the chance to respond.  
“You know the answer to that,” is all what Damiani responded with before closing the door in Ben and Huber’s faces.  
Ben gave a desperate look at Huber, who still kept his mouth-closed smile, despite getting roommate-rejected.  
“Okay, it’s just us then! I wanted to do a little something for your first night here, meet some people in the area, ya know?”  
“Yeah, uh, sure, sounds fun!” Ben responded, already starting to feel a little overwhelmed. But letting Huber down in any way would be ten times worse, so Ben decided to go with whatever he had planned for the night.  
“Yes!,” Huber cheered. “Oh and don’t worry about Damiani-”  
“I can still hear you,” Damiani said from the other side of the door.  
“-he’s just not the type to, uh, mingle. He’s a great teammate for Fortnite, though!”  
“You’re damn right,” came the muffled voice again.  
“Wheeeeen he uses a mouse and keyboard instead of a controller!” Huber laughed, and jostled Ben a little bit.  
Ben smiled. Sure, things here moved fast, but he’d get used to it. Hopefully.  
-  
Hours later, after dinner and a couple round of Fortnite, Ben and Huber strolled down one of the sidewalks downtown, enjoying a break from L.A.’s usual heat now that the sun had gone down.  
Huber skipped ahead slightly, pointing at a bar down the block, the building’s name highlighted in a glowing neon sign that read “The Renegayde”. The bar seemed crowded, with muffled noise being heard down the block and a large group of people hanging outside of the building’s doors.  
Ben wasn’t the biggest fan of the idea heading in there, but Huber grabbed him by the arm and led him in, pushing past the crowd that stood outside.  
Inside, the theme of neon lights continued, spreading out over the bar and the LED-floored dance floor over in the back of the building. On the other side, a small stage already filled with band’s equipment took up one of the corners. The entire bar was pretty large, and even included a loft up above, but the amount of attendees filled it up well. Ben took in his surroundings as Huber led him over to the bar, eventually finding a couple of empty stools to sit down on.  
“So.” Ben directly stared ahead, his voice flat. “Is this the gay bar that you usually go to or…?”  
“Hmm?”, Huber turned toward Ben, his usual smile on his face.  
“The name gave it away. Also the amount of flags,” Ben reached over to an empty drink that still held a pride toothpick flag. He waved it around for extra flair. “I just wanted to make sure that you know that I know.”  
“Well, yeah! I thought to myself what could be a better first night activity? I owe even being here to you,” Huber grinned, shaking Ben again.  
That much was true, and the fact alone gave Ben pangs of jealousy. Ben’s love life wasn’t the most active, but Huber’s had gotten re-kickstarted from what Ben felt like was his doing.  
The fact that Ben had came out to Huber as bi, and Huber not really understanding what bisexuality was was itself an interesting start, (“How is that possible!?” Ben had demanded. “You’ve lived in Los Angeles your entire life!”  
Huber had shrugged. “I just didn’t think about it, dude.” Typical Huber reaction.), to Huber himself realizing that he himself was bi, to the end of the year, when the compensation from missing out on a whole subsection of the population had reached its peak as Huber had dramatically entered into the editing room late at night, when only Ben and his editor/upperclassmen Kyle remained working.  
The door swung open, and Ben and Kyle turned to look to see Huber standing in the door with a handsome man.  
“This is Brad. We met at a Mom & Pop’s last Tuesday and we’re getting married.”  
Ben stood up out of his chair. “Not on my fucking watch, Huber.” Ben watched Huber’s face fall, and he turned to Kyle, who at this point besides turning to face the door hadn’t even acknowledged the scene in the room. “Dude, tell him.”  
Kyle had picked up his coffee, and took a full minute to take a sip, while everyone else stared in silence.  
Kyle had calmly put the coffee mug down, only to tell Huber “congrats” before turning around to start working again.  
“God damn it. God damn it Kyle,” Ben had said, rubbing his temples.  
Truly Ben had never felt so much malicious towards one person before. Perhaps the only competitor could be the aforementioned Brad who left Huber crying on the floor of his and Ben’s dorm only 48 hours later, (“He was straight?! But I thought he was a hairdresser?!”).  
It was all in the past. Nothing to dig up remember anytime soon.  
Not in the past though was Ben’s lackluster attempt at the dating scene. It wasn’t great that one year in L.A., it wasn’t in the suburbs of Iowa, and Ben’s hidden pessimistic attitude told him that this wouldn’t change in L.A. part 2: Adulting For Real.  
Maybe bringing up JRPGs on the first date wasn’t the best idea. Huber had told Ben, “Well, maybe go for a game that’s well-known...like Monster Hunter, dude! Or Fortnite!”  
Huber sometimes wasn’t much help. It didn’t help that when it came to men their preferences differed- Huber tended to sway towards the masculine, Ben towards the feminine. So when it came to exploring the dating scene, partnering up didn’t really seem to be a good strategy.  
Ben reflected on all this as he sat at the bar alone. Huber had gone off in search of a friend, promising that he’d be right back. Ben wasn’t too interested in the sugary neon-colored vodka mixes that they mainly offered, and instead opted into getting the one of two brands of beer that they had. Well, it was better than nothing.  
Ben looked around and grabbed one of the flyers that was left abandoned on the bar counter. The flyer in it’s visuals didn’t have much to convey, just displaying an intrinsic pattern of pink and green shapes. The flyer read in a dark, bold font:

Tonight performing:

Ian Hinck:  
Spinster goddess  
Trickster bard  
Collector of bloodborne paraphernalia  
Not available for birthdays  
(she/they)  
:)

As fate had it, right as Ben reached the bottom of the flyer, feedback emitted from the corner of the bar that held the stage, screeching over the crowd in the bar until, despite the turnout that night, almost everyone had gone silent.  
On the stage, a person in an almost garish red suit took the microphone, speaking as their band started warming up their instruments behind them.  
“Hey. My name’s Ian. This my genderqueer band. Have a good, genderqueer time.”  
Ian in the red suit started to play the synth that was on the stage, and the band joined in with guitar and piano. The song was melodic and slow, but the lyrics piqued Ben’s interest.

“Plagas  
Plagas  
I’m falling away  
I’m enlightened  
It’s full of the sickness stench that I know  
I’m drowning in it  
Plagas”

Ben scrunched up his eyebrows, but applauded like the rest of the crowd. A song about Resident Evil in a gay bar? Sure, stranger things could happen.  
Ben listened with intensity even as the rest of the bar began to lose interest and return to their chatter. The rest of Ian’s setlist comprised itself of songs about Streets of Rage, ice cream, cardboard, and Monster Hunter. It was especially fascinating to Ben how synths could be used that many times without getting old.  
Ian was finishing up their last song, (an upbeat tune about lava levels), when Huber came rushing back to Ben, slightly out of breath and with one drink in each hand.  
“Hey! Oh- here you go, take this-”, Huber handed Ben one of his drinks, and Ben, seeing that it was beer, took it gratefully. “-and did you see Ian perform? I love their music but I don’t get to hear it a lot because of our schedules-”  
“Was that the friend that you were looking for?”, Ben asked, taking a sip of the drink Huber handed to him. Not too bad.  
“No, but I know Ian, did you wanna say hi? Also I need to return this to them.” Huber pulled a DSi out his back pocket. Ben didn’t notice Huber had that with him the entire night, but was only mildly surprised by the fact.  
“Yo, dude. You’re a legend. And, uh, sure,” Ben said, getting up from the barstool, reluctantly getting ready to leave the spot where he actually felt comfortable.  
Huber once again grabbed Ben by the arm and dragged him to the back of the bar. The backup band seemed to have already left, but the singer- Ian -was still lingering around, chatting casually with some of the bar patrons who seemed to have only praises for Ian’s catchy new-wave tunes.  
Huber paid no mind to the people already talking to Ian as he pushed past them to give Ian a big hug. Ian’s reaction was surprised, but still positive, as they hugged Huber back.  
“Hiiiiii, Hubie. How’s it going?”  
“I liked your show, Ian. And it’s going pretty good, yeah! Oh, and I have your DS.” Huber handed Ian the DSi, then pulled Ben over to introduce him.  
“Ben! Ian! Yes.” Huber grinned, giving no further explanation besides the pair’s names.  
Ben gave Huber a look that said really? before giving Ian a real introduction, giving them a hearty handshake. “Hey, I really liked your setlist, dude. How long have you been making music?”  
Ian slung their synth case over their shoulder. At this point Ian had briefly waved goodbye to the people that they were previously speaking to. “A loooong time,” they said. “I probably started because of Tom Waits. I keep on because of Janelle Monae. I think I’ll never stop because of San Pellegrino. It’s my lifeblood, I think.”  
“I’ve never heard of that band before,” Huber said.  
“I’m playing up the rule of threes, Hubie,” Ian replied. “I shouldn't though. Comedy rules are meant to be broken.”  
“In some ways, yeah,” Ben said at the same time that Huber said, “So you’re not talking about a band, then, right?”  
“Are you interested in music stuff?” Ian turned to Ben. “I’ve known Huber for a while- I think we can have him just stick to the drums,” they said with a laugh.  
“I mean, I’ve been told my singing voice is ‘better than expected’, and I have wanted to play the guitar for a long time,” Ben shrugged.  
Huber slapped Ben on the back. “There you go. Ben- you can take lessons from Ian. Ian- you can come over and we can finish A Night in the Woods together. A win-win scenario, an easy alliance for all of us!” Huber gave Ben and Ian a wide smile, and bounced in place.  
“I, um, suppose so”, Ben laughed nervously. Ian was staring right into him, analyzing him. Ian wasn’t intimidating at all, but there was definitely a barrier there of understanding- Ben could tell Ian was a person of walls and an outward boldness that could reflect the pressure of socialital normality. After all, Ian’s look of their red suit and long, tousled dirty blonde hair gave Ben the feeling that they weren’t the kind of person that really gave a damn about what others thought. Or, rather, held those feelings to a select group of people.  
Ben backtracked himself, and turned to face Ian, and Ian only.  
“I’d actually really like it if you came over, Ian,” he said. “I’m really new here in town and I’m always open to hanging with new people. Especially if they’ve already survived the Huber shakedown,” Ben laughed.  
Ian smiled. “Sure,” they said. “I’ll make myself a day of it. I can bring over my stuff, we’ll make a video or two out of it, it’ll be fantaaaaaaasmic.”  
“...Videos? Okay, sure. I’m down,” Ben said, his mind racing over what kind of videos Ian could mean, and desperately trying to block out the obvious.  
Ben was usually aware of how much he wore his expressions on his sleeve, but when Ian winked at him, Ben’s heart lept and realized that maybe his mix of fear and hopefulness (?) was a bit too apparent.  
A silence between the three held for a second that felt like a lifetime to Ben. His own shock, Ian’s playfulness, and Huber’s oblivious happiness held stagnant in the air until Huber broke the tension with a loud “Alright!”. He fist pumped the air. “I love it. Yes, dude! I am so pumped- it’ll be great. Next Saturday? I don’t have anything.” Huber looked expectantly at Ian and Ben.  
“I’ll be free,” Ben said at the same time that Ian replied, “You know me. I’ll be there.”  
“Nice! Nice. Hey- I’ll text you on the time, okay?  
“Sounds good,” Ian said. They glanced at Ben as they said, “I’ll see you guys then. I gotta skedaddle into the night, though. I’m off to do my own things. Love ya Hubie, love ya Ben.”  
Ian and Huber embraced, and Ian and Ben too, albeit a bit more tense.  
Ben watched Ian pick up their equipment and exit the bar. His heart beat in time with the music now playing on the speakers.  
Maybe L.A. wouldn’t be such a lonely place after all.  
-  
Ben caught Huber filling up a glass with tap water in the kitchen. Their work schedules didn’t sync up exactly, with Ben’s in-office job required him to stay into the evenings on big news days, while Huber’s contracting-based journalism work kept him writing nights, morning, and any unconventional time in general.  
But Friday afternoon finally let the two give each other more time to talk than just a passing, “how are you?” or “hey, could you pick up my mail for me?”. Ben found his friend, and wouldn’t let him leave until they caught up with each other completely, (not like Huber would be the kind to want to drift off anyways- his absolute devotion to his friends sometimes kept conversations TOO long. Ben didn’t mind one bit, though. Huber’s passion was the thing that brought Ben towards his friend in the first place).  
When they gave themselves a few moments to breathe, though, Ben took a deep breath and braved a question that had plagued him the entire work week- “Huber, man, I gotta know. What’s, um, the situation with Ian?” Before Huber could answer, Ben quickly interjected, “I’m not asking about anything in particular, well, I guess I am, but I’m not asking about any their life story or anything, or even their story in general, ya know? But I wanna know…uh...what’s their deal? Ya know?”  
Huber stared blankly at Ben.  
Ben tried to keep a casual demeanor. “Listen, I’ve just been thinking about them. They’re pretty cool, ya kn- right?”  
Huber made a face of deep thought before answering. “I think you two would make a good couple.”  
“I am NOT asking about that,” Ben protested.  
“Yes you were!”  
“NO, I wasn’t.”  
“Yes, yes, yeah you were!”  
Damiani’s voice could be heard from his room. “Quit being so tsundere, Ben.”  
Ben easily could have gone into the fact that he didn’t meet the exact requirements of being a tsundere, but he didn’t want to pile more unnecessary discourse onto his plate.  
Huber spoke slowly, deliberating each word carefully. “I think whatever you’re planning Ben, I think you should do it. I support ya.”  
Ben didn’t rush head first into things like Huber often did. Perhaps to his detriment, he often wanted to really get to know someone before he even thought about deciding to take that step into the dating realm. But Ian seemed like someone Ben could get along with so well- the knowledge of video games, the love of music, the unique style and vibe that they gave off. Sure, it was a crush. But was Ben about to say that outloud to anyone? Hell no.  
“Thanks, man,” Ben smiled at Huber, and Huber grinned back.  
A little comfort could go a long ways.  
-  
Huber had insisted on cooking everyone dinner, and Ben wasn’t about to refuse that service. Apparently part of the meal was plenty of beer, and both Huber and Damiani didn’t hold back. And so, at around 1 o’clock in the morning, following a couple of rounds of Mario Party, only Ben and Ian remained awake and lucid. In a rare moment of “why not?” from Ben, he immediately requested Ian to give him voice lessons the moment he managed to push Huber into his room.  
And so the two sat on the couch in the living area, Ian’s keyboard laid out in front of them on the coffee table, and small camera positioned behind it, lowered for whatever reason so that Ian and Ben’s knees were the focal point of the frame. When questioned and requested the camera be moved up a little bit, Ian only responded with, “It’s funnier this way.” Ben couldn’t argue with that.  
“I’ll edit it so our opening begins when I give the introduction,” Ian said, having already turned the camera on. “Which can be….right now!,” they said, beaming down at the camera.  
“I have to ask, though,” Ben began, trying to play the casual route, “What do you make these videos for?”  
“It’s just a lil’ side hustle I have,” Ian said. “I have a show on a channel, and I kinda do it weekly but it’s different every time, depending on what I happen to be doing on the day that it’s supposed to be posted.”  
Ben nodded in understanding. “You’re pretty lucky to have the freedom to do that sort of thing.”  
“What I do mainly though is write and perform music,” Ian continued. “And that’s what I really love to do. So between those two things it’s preeetty lucky of you to know Huber and get me. You’re dealing with the best in the biz, Ben-boy.”  
“Listen, I’m glad to have you here. In LA, I’m sure being the “best in biz” is a pretty big deal.” Ben took a sip from his water bottle.  
“Alright, I get your tone,” Ian laughed. “I can play that “dry humor” route.” They shifted their body so their knees angled towards Ben. The two sat very close together, even with the whole expanse of the couch on either sides of them.  
“Here,” Ian said, “I’ll play some notes and you see if you can match them with your voice. I want to see where your range is, and how well you can match pitch.”  
The next half an hour was spent, in Ben’s mind, with frustrating passage. Even in his best attempt he couldn’t seem to match Ian’s effortless matching of simple notes, and was at times blown away at Ian’s showing off when they demonstrated their range and abilities to riff.  
“I understand now,” Ben announced after his and Ian’s slow transition into attempting scales had gone awry, stopping the lesson dead in its tracks. He extravagantly shook Ian’s hand and pretended to get up and leave. “I am NOT meant for the performance life. Ian- you’ve done your best, but I think I’ll stick to the things that I know in life. Writing, video games...” Ben paused. “Yeah, that’s about it.”  
Ian leaned back into the couch, their body language collected and casual. “I mean, I’m a realist, ya know? I try and keep things down to Earth. I think it’s good that you’re able to understand where your talents lie. I’d miss this, though. I had fun tonight.”  
Ben’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this, but tried to play it cool, sitting back down. “Yeah, I, uh, I had fun too, and I think it’d suck if we stopped this because I think you’re really cool and I’d miss seeing you because I think there’s a lot to learn about you, right?” Shit. So much for playing it cool.  
Ian sat up, their face dangerously close to Ben’s.  
“Oh,” they said with a smirk. “I think I can still make time to come over here. Especially since you seem so desperate for my goddess-like presence.”  
“NOT desperate,” Ben corrected them. “Passionate.”  
The two stared at each other for a second, and silence hung in the air. Ian finally broke the connection when they stood up from the couch, turning off the camera that stood propped up on the table. Ben had completely forgot that was there.  
“Make like a roadie and help me get packed up here,” Ian said, cheerful. “If I can get back to my apartment before the sun rises I think I can still convince myself to be productive tomorrow morning.”  
Ben did what he could, still thinking about the closeness the two had only a couple of minutes before. He opened the door for Ian, who had slung the case for the keyboard over their left shoulder, and their backpack full of other equipment over the right.  
“Thanks again for the fun night,” Ben said. “I look forward to seeing how the video turns out.”  
“Me too!” Ian smiled. “Let me know when you and Huber and Damiani are free again. Like I said, I’d love to see you again.”  
They shoved a piece of paper into Ben’s hand, and as Ben looked down, Ian stood on their tip-toes and gave Ben a peck on the cheek.  
Ben reacted stunned, and didn’t say anything back as Ian left the apartment. Ben closed the door and sat back down on the couch, his whole face red. He opened his hand up to see what was on the piece of paper to see what Ian had written.  
It was their phone number, followed with a small heart and the worlds “call me!”.  
L.A. for sure wouldn’t be such a lonely place after all.


End file.
